Long Time, No Blog and Christmas Projects

I feel sooooo bad that I haven't been blogging lately, it's just that I've been soooooo busy with life.  Christmas is coming and all through this Advent season I've been trying to set aside more time for reading devotions and prayer (which isn't always easy).  Also, I get to have Christmas Dinner at my house this year!!  I'm very excited about that, because I love to entertain (even though our house is the size of a Cracker Jack box).  Therefore, I haven't had time to load photos, and write blogs....I wonder if anyone else starts to feel a bit "overwhelmed" about the whole blogging thing, especially at this time of year?

 

But I do have a minute or 40 to spare so I thought I'd catch everyone up on just ONE or TWO of the projects I've been working on these last couple of weeks.  

I've been making cookies.

Lots of cookies....about 130 total.

They are whipped up from scratch using my Grandmother's recipe. 

 

 

I feel I've finally figured out how to use Wilton's Royal Icing recipe, which you can find HERE.  And I have found that the consistency of the icing is key to having no jagged edges and pointed dots.

 

First, I outline the cookies.

 

 

Then I flood the cookies.  The outline acts as a wall, helping to keep the flooding frosting where it is suppose to be.  You can see the flooded cookies on the left. 

 

  Finally I pipe white frosting details (after the base frosting cools).

 

 

It's really quite a process and if I had to guess, I'd say I probably handle each cookie for around 5 or 6 minutes.  But it's SO MUCH FUN!!!  I love making and decorating cookies!

And, not that anyone cares, but I listened to a lot of 60s music while making these.  I really have no idea why.  A little Simon and Garfunkle, some of The Youngbloods, The Byrds, and Jefferson Airplane.  A little of the Fifth Dimention, David Cassidy (don't laugh), and some Peter Paul and Mary.  Good stuff!

 

I did manage to buy a little vintage "looking" tree at Hobby Lobby for my vintage ornaments!

 

There's no baby Jesus yet, we have to wait until Christmas.

For now the tree sits in my little "library".

 

 

That's just the start of my projects.  I'm not going to share anything else until after Christmas because so many of my projects lately are Christmas Gifts and I don't want to spoil any surprises!  Haha!

 

So, I'll post again after Christmas so stay tuned! 

And have a super fun Christmas!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Kitty Embroidery Transfers from 1958

This past summer I found these super cool envelopes at Vintage City's fifty-cent sale!  I love love love them and want to share one of them with you today.

The top two envelopes are from February 1958.  The bottom one from March of 1977.
The first one is addressed to Mrs. Oscar H Anderson of Voltaire.  I found nothing about her on the internet.  The next is addressed to Mrs. Jennie Wasson of Velva ND.  The last envelope is addressed to Glenna Evashenko of Rural Velva ND.  I found out quite a bit about Glenna including the fact that Jennie Wasson was her mother.  You can read about Glenna by clicking HERE.  It sounds like she was quite a crafty gal, involved in many things including homemakers.  She was also a bit of a record keeper of events.  It would be interesting to visit the Velva Library to find her collections.  Glenna died in 2007. 

 

I just love vintage envelopes.  I especially enjoy looking up peoples' names and addresses haha.

Let's open the top envelope today.  These patterns are from Grit magazine, a family magazine.  I'm thinking they must have advertised embroidery patterns in their magazine and woman could send away for them.  (I wonder if magazines do that anymore, with everything being online now.)  I imagine it was probably pretty exciting to send away for things and have them show up in your mailbox, a little cheer to break up the monotony of the February winters here in ND.  Glenna might have even taken these transfers to her homemakers meeting that winter.  Maybe she loaned them to her friends as well. 
 

 

It's a Pussy Cat Design!

And the transfers are in silver!

 

 

I was able to scan them and here are the transfers.

I apologize if the quality isn't very good.  In order to flip it (because everything is reversed in a transfer) I had to create a new jpeg in my scrapbooking program.  It turned out kind of gray, because I'm not very computer savvy.

 

 

  

 

 



 

 

 

 

That's all for today!  Until another time have a happy stitching day!

 



Vintage Christmas Ornaments

A few weeks ago, I spotted these at the local flea market.

 

 

I've seen so many vintage ornaments on other people's blogs, oodles of them!  And other people seem to find them so easily...boxes of them!  The old Shiny Brites seem to be a little harder to come by around here.  I rarely ever see them.  And, to be honest, these ornaments aren't even that old...they are reproductions, and definitely not Shiny Brites.  The box has a bar code!  If I had to guess I would say these are from the late 80's.  But, they LOOK old and so I will use them.  I'll take what I can get when it comes to vintage ornaments.

 

Below are all of the vintage ornaments I own now.  Maybe this year I can have my little vintage Christmas tree in the library room!

 

Here is a catalog page FULL of ornaments from 1957 (I think that's the right date).  Aren't they swell!?  I just love them!  (image found on Pinterest). 

 

 

And one last picture before I go.  Who wants a picture of a vintage Christmas tree!!?  I do I do!!

The tree below is full of 1950s-60s vintage goodness! (from Kitchy Living's blog and pinterest).

 

 

I've read that one couldn't put electric lights on an aluminum Christmas tree or it would burst into flames.  Apparently the consumer safety administration didn't exist back then?  So they had something that looked like a "light drum" that would spin, and the colored light would reflect off of the metal tree.  Pretty groovy huh?  This tree is actually a little too modern for me, (I still prefer green) but it is REALLY far out.

 

Well, that's all I have for today.  Until another time, have a shiny brite kind of day!